← Previous revisionRevision as of 00:46, 13 October 2026 Line 39: Line 39: {{quotation|Lately, I'd been depressed and preoccupied with death...Looking out toward the ocean, my mind, as it did almost every hour of every day, worked to explain the inconsistencies that dominated my life; the pain, torment, and confusion and the beautiful music I was able to make. Was there an answer? Did I have no control? Had I ever? Feeling shipwrecked on an existential island, I lost myself in the balance of darkness that stretched beyond the breaking waves to the other side of the earth. The ocean was so incredibly vast, the universe was so large, and suddenly I saw myself in proportion to that, a little pebble of sand, a jellyfish floating on top of the water; traveling with the current I felt dwarfed, temporary. The next day I began writing "Til I Die", perhaps the most personal song I ever wrote for The Beach Boys...In doing so, I wanted to re-create the swell of emotions that I'd felt at the beach the previous night.{{cite book |first=Brian |last=Wilson |title=Wouldn't It Be Nice: My own Story|url=https://archive.org/details/wouldntitbenicem00wils |url-access=registration |year=1991 |page=[https://archive.org/details/wouldntitbenicem00wils/page/194 194]|publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=9780060183134 }}}} {{quotation|Lately, I'd been depressed and preoccupied with death...Looking out toward the ocean, my mind, as it did almost every hour of every day, worked to explain the inconsistencies that dominated my life; the pain, torment, and confusion and the beautiful music I was able to make. Was there an answer? Did I have no control? Had I ever? Feeling shipwrecked on an existential island, I lost myself in the balance of darkness that stretched beyond the breaking waves to the other side of the earth. The ocean was so incredibly vast, the universe was so large, and suddenly I saw myself in proportion to that, a little pebble of sand, a jellyfish floating on top of the water; traveling with the current I felt dwarfed, temporary. The next day I began writing "Til I Die", perhaps the most personal song I ever wrote for The Beach Boys...In doing so, I wanted to re-create the swell of emotions that I'd felt at the beach the previous night.{{cite book |first=Brian |last=Wilson |title=Wouldn't It Be Nice: My own Story|url=https://archive.org/details/wouldntitbenicem00wils |url-access=registration |year=1991 |page=[https://archive.org/details/wouldntitbenicem00wils/page/194 194]|publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=9780060183134 }}}} The song was written over the course of several weeks as Wilson tried to express the feelings he had experienced that night at the beach. As he explains, "I struggled at the piano, experimenting with rhythms and chord changes, trying to emulate in sound the ocean's shifting tides and moods as well as its sheer enormity. I wanted the music to reflect the loneliness of floating a raft in the middle of the Pacific. I wanted each note to sound as if it was disappearing into the hugeness of the universe.{{cite book |first=Keith |last=Badman |title=The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band on Stage and in the Studio |url=https://archive.org/details/beachboysdefinit0000badm |url-access=registration |year=2004 |page=[https://archive.org/details/beachboysdefinit0000badm/page/288 288]|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |isbn=9780879308186 }} The song was written over the course of several weeks as Wilson tried to express the feelings he had experienced that night at the beach. He explained: "I struggled at the piano, experimenting with rhythms and chord changes, trying to emulate in sound the ocean's shifting tides and moods as well as its sheer enormity. I wanted the music to reflect the loneliness of floating a raft in the middle of the Pacific. I wanted each note to sound as if it was disappearing into the hugeness of the universe.{{cite book |first=Keith |last=Badman |title=The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band on Stage and in the Studio |url=https://archive.org/details/beachboysdefinit0000badm |url-access=registration |year=2004 |page=[https://archive.org/details/beachboysdefinit0000badm/page/288 288]|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |isbn=9780879308186 }} Explaining how Wilson came up with the chords, [[Don Was]] recalled, "he told me that he was sitting at a piano, creating geometric patterns with his fingers, trying not to move the fingers on the outside of the patterns, but limiting changes to internal movements. When he landed on a shape that both looked cool and sounded good, he wrote it down. So, essentially he created this masterpiece by contorting his fingers into really groovy shapes." However, Was said, "I've absolutely no idea whether this story has any basis in truth or whether he was just making it up on the spot to entertain me."{{cite book |editor-first=Paul |editor-last=Williams |title=How Deep is the Ocean? |year=2003 |pages=212–213}} Explaining how Wilson came up with the chords, [[Don Was]] recalled, "he told me that he was sitting at a piano, creating geometric patterns with his fingers, trying not to move the fingers on the outside of the patterns, but limiting changes to internal movements. When he landed on a shape that both looked cool and sounded good, he wrote it down. So, essentially he created this masterpiece by contorting his fingers into really groovy shapes." However, Was admitted to having "no idea whether this story has any basis in truth or whether he was just making it up on the spot to entertain me."{{cite book |editor-first=Paul |editor-last=Williams |title=How Deep is the Ocean? |year=2003 |pages=212–213}} Asked how he came up with the song in a 2007 interview, Wilson answered, "Well, I put a b note in g major 7th chord and it was a 3rd in the chord, and the note in the key of g resonates pretty well. Lyrically, I tried to put nature in there. Earth, water, rocks and leaves."{{cite web |last1=Kubernick |first1=Harvey |author1-link=Harvey Kubernick |title=Kubernick: Beach Boys "Feel Flows" Box Set |url=https://www.musicconnection.com/kubernik-beach-boys-feel-flows-box-set/ |website=Music Connection |date=July 2, 2021}} He stated that the line "I'm a cork on the ocean" was the first thing lyrically that came to him. In the lyrics, Wilson compares himself to a cork on the ocean, a rock in a landslide, and a leaf on a windy day—seeing himself as a small, helpless object, being moved inconceivable distances by forces beyond his comprehension. "How deep is the ocean? How long will the wind blow?" The hopeless conclusion is given in the song's title. Asked how he came up with the song in a 2007 interview, Wilson answered, "Well, I put a b note in g major 7th chord and it was a 3rd in the chord, and the note in the key of g resonates pretty well. Lyrically, I tried to put nature in there. Earth, water, rocks and leaves.{{Sic}}"{{cite web |last1=Kubernick |first1=Harvey |author1-link=Harvey Kubernick |title=Kubernick: Beach Boys "Feel Flows" Box Set |url=https://www.musicconnection.com/kubernik-beach-boys-feel-flows-box-set/ |website=Music Connection |date=July 2, 2021}} He stated that the line "I'm a cork on the ocean" was the first lyric that came to him. Across three short verses, Wilson compares himself to a cork on the ocean, a rock in a landslide, and a leaf on a windy day—seeing himself as a small, helpless object, being moved inconceivable distances by forces beyond his comprehension. "How deep is the ocean? How long will the wind blow?" The hopeless conclusion is given in the song's title, which is repeated in the song's ending tag. == Recording == == Recording == Line 62: Line 62: == Release == == Release == The song was first released on the band's album ''Surf's Up'' on August 30, 1971. On October 11, 1971, the song was released in the United States as the flip-side of the "Long Promised Road" single, which had also been released earlier that year in May with a different B-side. The single entered the ''Billboard'' charts on October 30 in the No. 93 position. It peaked three weeks later at No. 89 on the ''Billboard'' charts, where it remained for one more week until the single dropped off the charts altogether.{{cite book |first=Brad |last=Elliott |title=Surf's Up: The Beach Boys On Record 1961-1981 |year=2003 |page=421}} It was the first single by the group in 19 months to chart. However, at the time it was the lowest charting single in the group's history and it remained so for a further eighteen years.{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=[https://archive.org/details/beachboysdefinit0000badm/page/300 300]}} The song was first released on the band's album ''Surf's Up'' on August 30, 1971. On October 11, 1971, the song was released in the United States as the flip-side of the "Long Promised Road" single, which had also been released earlier that year in May with a different B-side. The single entered the ''Billboard'' charts on October 30 at No. 93 and peaked three weeks later at No. 89, where it remained for one more week until the single dropped off the chart.{{cite book |first=Brad |last=Elliott |title=Surf's Up: The Beach Boys On Record 1961-1981 |year=2003 |page=421}} It was the first single by the group in 19 months to chart, but their lowest charting single to date; it remained so for a further eighteen years.{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=[https://archive.org/details/beachboysdefinit0000badm/page/300 300]}} ==Legacy and recognition== ==Legacy and recognition== Bruce Johnston praised it as the last great Brian Wilson song{{cite AV media | people = Boyd, Alan (Director) | title = Endless Harmony: The Beach Boys Story | medium = Documentary | publisher = Eagle Eye Media |date = 1998}} as well as describing it as Wilson's "heaviest song." Johnston has also stated that "the words absolutely fit his mindset". Wilson also felt this was the case when he stated that "the song summed up everything I had to say at the time." In 2015, Love named the lyrics of {{"'}}Til I Die" his favorite of any written solely by Wilson, although he admitted, "I don't like the line 'it kills my soul' but I understand what he's saying."{{cite web|last1=Sharp|first1=Ken|title=Mike Love of the Beach Boys: One-On-One (The Interview Part 1)|url=http://www.rockcellarmagazine.com/2015/09/09/mike-love-of-the-beach-boys-one-on-one-the-interview-part-1/2/#sthash.om8yj2AB.dpbs|publisher=[[Rock Cellar Magazine]]|date=September 9, 2015|access-date=September 10, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612170213/https://www.rockcellarmagazine.com/2015/09/09/mike-love-of-the-beach-boys-one-on-one-the-interview-part-1/2/#sthash.om8yj2AB.dpbs|archive-date=June 12, 2018|url-status=dead}} Biographer [[Jon Stebbins]] wrote: {{"'}}Til I Die' proves that Brian could not only write beautiful music, but that he had the ability to communicate honestly and artfully with his lyrics as well. The track is decorated with a haunting vibraphone and organ bed, which frames the strong harmony vocal arrangement perfectly."{{cite book|last1=Stebbins|first1=Jon|author-link=Jon Stebbins|title=The Beach Boys FAQ: All That's Left to Know About America's Band|date=2011|isbn=9781458429148|page=124|publisher=Backbeat Books }} Bruce Johnston would later praise "'Til I Die" as the last great Brian Wilson song{{cite AV media | people = Boyd, Alan (Director) | title = Endless Harmony: The Beach Boys Story | medium = Documentary | publisher = Eagle Eye Media |date = 1998}} and Wilson's "heaviest song." Johnston has also stated that "the words absolutely fit his mindset". Wilson concurred that "the song summed up everything I had to say at the time." In 2015, Mike Love named the lyrics of {{"'}}Til I Die" his favorite of any written solely by Wilson, although he admitted, "I don't like the line 'it kills my soul' but I understand what he's saying."{{cite web|last1=Sharp|first1=Ken|title=Mike Love of the Beach Boys: One-On-One (The Interview Part 1)|url=http://www.rockcellarmagazine.com/2015/09/09/mike-love-of-the-beach-boys-one-on-one-the-interview-part-1/2/#sthash.om8yj2AB.dpbs|publisher=[[Rock Cellar Magazine]]|date=September 9, 2015|access-date=September 10, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612170213/https://www.rockcellarmagazine.com/2015/09/09/mike-love-of-the-beach-boys-one-on-one-the-interview-part-1/2/#sthash.om8yj2AB.dpbs|archive-date=June 12, 2018|url-status=dead}} Beach Boys biographer [[Jon Stebbins]] wrote that the song "proves that Brian could not only write beautiful music, but that he had the ability to communicate honestly and artfully with his lyrics as well. The track is decorated with a haunting vibraphone and organ bed, which frames the strong harmony vocal arrangement perfectly."{{cite book|last1=Stebbins|first1=Jon|author-link=Jon Stebbins|title=The Beach Boys FAQ: All That's Left to Know About America's Band|date=2011|isbn=9781458429148|page=124|publisher=Backbeat Books }} As a solo artist, a remake of the song was recorded – along with an accompanying video – by Brian Wilson for inclusion in the 1995 documentary ''[[Brian Wilson: I Just Wasn't Made for These Times|I Just Wasn't Made for These Times]]'' and it would later appear on the film's soundtrack. This version, produced by Brian and [[Don Was]], is much more sparse than the original. Brian's re-recording of the song was released as the second track on a relatively rare UK single in 1995. However, the single failed to make any impact on the charts.{{Citation needed|date=March 2010}} In 2000, over a period of two days on April 7 and 8, Brian and his band recorded a live version of the song—based on Desper's extended mix—for inclusion on Brian's 2000 live album ''[[Live at the Roxy Theatre]]''. Wilson recorded a new version of the song – along with an accompanying video – for inclusion in the 1995 documentary ''[[Brian Wilson: I Just Wasn't Made for These Times]]'' and its soundtrack album. This version, co-produced by Wilson and [[Don Was]], is much more sparse than the original. Brian's re-recording of the song was released as the second track on a relatively rare UK single in 1995. However, the single failed to make any impact on the charts.{{Citation needed|date=March 2010}} On April 7 and 8, 2000, Wilson and his band recorded a live version of the song—based on Desper's extended mix—for inclusion on Brian's 2000 live album ''[[Live at the Roxy Theatre]]''. A sample of the song appears as part of the [[Music from Love & Mercy|soundtrack]] to the 2014 film ''[[Love & Mercy (film)|Love & Mercy]]'' on the track "The Bed Montage", composed by [[Atticus Ross]]. A sample of the song appears as part of the [[Music from Love & Mercy|soundtrack]] to the 2014 film ''[[Love & Mercy (film)|Love & Mercy]]'' in the cue "The Bed Montage", composed by [[Atticus Ross]]. ==Personnel== ==Personnel== Line 76: Line 76: '''The Beach Boys''' '''The Beach Boys''' *[[Al Jardine]] - backing vocals *[[Al Jardine]] - backing vocals *[[Bruce Johnston]] - backing vocals, Hammond organ *[[Bruce Johnston]] - backing vocals, [[Hammond organ]] *[[Mike Love]] - lead and backing vocals *[[Mike Love]] - lead and backing vocals *[[Brian Wilson]] - lead and backing vocals, Hammond organ, [[Rocky Mount Instruments|Rocksichord]], snare drum, Maestro Rhythm King MRK-2 [[drum machine]] *[[Brian Wilson]] - lead and backing vocals, Hammond organ, [[Rocky Mount Instruments|Rocksichord]], snare drum, Maestro Rhythm King MRK-2 [[drum machine]]